


Wasted Time

by combefemme



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: F/M, Prompt Fic, TommyKate Fic Trade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 12:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1858680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combefemme/pseuds/combefemme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate gets hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wasted Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is being posted as part of the [TommyKate Fic Trade](tumblr.com/tagged/tommykate-fic-trade) on tumblr for the Week 1 prompt: One of them gets seriously injured on a mission.
> 
> I can be found on tumblr [here](tommybishops.tumblr.com).

Tommy sits with his head in his hands, his fingers fisted in hir hair so hard he's sure he's pulled some out. Not that he cares right now.

It was supposed to be an easy mission. Routine, even. Just your run-of-the-mill bank robbery. No aliens or super villains or anything. Just regular people. But even regular people have guns.

And Kate Bishop -- badass as she is -- isn't impervious to bullets.

So, now the Young Avengers are gathered around a hospital waiting room. Tommy with his head bent, Billy and Teddy clinging to each other, American pacing, and David hovering next to Tommy, wanting to offer comfort but not knowing how. Meanwhile, Kate is in an operating room somewhere.

Tommy's never felt so powerless in his life, not even when he was locked up and under the influence of dampners. Because now, with all the abilities available to him, he's useless. There isn't a damn thing he can do but wait.

Tommy hates waiting.

A nurse walks through the waiting room and America corners her.

"Kate Bishop," she demands, as close to frantic as America ever gets.

"She's still in surgery," the nurse soothes, her eyes scanning over all of them. Tommy wonders vaguely if she knows who they are. "As soon as there's anything to know, you'll know it."

 _'That's not good enough!'_ Tommy wants to scream as she walks away, but he just clenches his jaw. It's not her fault.

 _'No, it's your fault,'_ Tommy tells himself. _'You should've been paying closer attention. You should've been protecting her. You should've been **faster**. You call yourself a hero? You can't even protect your own g--'_

Tommy shakes his head, cutting off that thought before it can go any further.

Kate isn't his girlfriend. She's his... something. But girlfriend isn't the word for it, not yet anyway. Ever since the New Years party he thinks they've been getting closer to it, but they aren't there yet.

 _'And now you might never be,'_ his mind helpfully supplies. _'Should've grown a pair and made your move sooner, dumbass.'_

For someone who hates waiting, he sure has wasted a lot of time.

XxXx

It's a while later -- minutes or hours, Tommy isn't sure; he's never been good with time -- that Teddy asks, "Did anyone call her sister?"

"Didn't even think of it," Billy replies.

Tommy shakes his head. "What would we even tell her? She doesn't know who Kate is."

Teddy sighs. "We should still call her. She should know."

"Wait until Kate is out of surgery," America says resolutely. "She can decide what to tell her."

None of them say what they're all thinking: What if she doesn't make it out of surgery?

XxXx

When the doctor finally emerges he's looking tired by pleased.

"Your friend is very lucky," he tells them and Tommy has to stop himself from scoffing. She was shot. How lucky can she be? "The bullet missed her heart by less than two inches."

"Can we see her?" Billy asks the nurse as the doctor leaves.

"She needs her rest," she replies. "But she is awake and asking for you so, given the circumstances --" so she does know who they are "-- we're going to allow you in one-at-a-time, five minutes each."

Billy goes in first, then Teddy, then America. Part of Tommy wants to scream at having to wait again but part of him is almost relieved.

What is he going to say to her?

They're supposed to be partners out there. He should've had her back. This is all his fault.

What if she doesn't even want to see him?

He's just about to turn and run, save Kate the energy of having to tell him to get lost, when America comes out and beelines for him as David heads in. She grabs him by the collar of his shirt and pins his back to the wall. From the corner of his eye he sees Billy start to take a step towards them but Teddy reaches out a hand to stop him.

"Alright, listen up," America snarls. "Whatever this game is you two've been playing these past few months, ends now."

Tommy opens his mouth to reply but America cuts him off.

"You're either together or you're not. No more dancing around it," she says. "She's lying in there hooked up to machines and still asking for you. The last thing she needs right now is your particular brand of complicated. Got it?"

Tommy doesn't know what to say. She's asking for him? She wants to see him? She doesn't hate him?

"Got it?" America repeats, giving him an angry shake.

Tommy snaps out of it and shoves America away.

"She just almost died," he replies, just as angry as she is. "You really think I need more of a wake-up call than that? You think I need you to tell me to stop wasting time?"

"Good," America says. "Then go stop wasting it."

She jabs her finger toward the door just as David emerges and in the blink of an eye Tommy is in Kate's hospital room, the door shutting behind him.

"Tommy?" Kate slurs when she sees him.

"Hey," he says softly, making his way to her side as slowly as he can bare. He doesn't want to startle her. "How are you feeling?"

"Been better," she replies. She's paler than he's ever seen her and her eyelids are drooping, but she still manages to smile at him. "What took you so long?" 

Tommy sighs and carefully sits on the edge of Kate's bed. He doesn't meet her eyes as he says, "I didn't think you'd want to see me."

"Well, that's dumb," she says and that makes him look at her. "Why are you so dumb sometimes?"

He feels the corner of his mouth pull up at that. "How drugged up are you right now?"

"Very," she answers. "And very tired."

Tommy starts to stand. "Do you want me to go?"

She grabs his wrist. Her grip is weak but insistent. "Of course not. Why'd you think I wouldn't wanna see you?"

"Because you shouldn't," he replies. "It was my fault, Kate, I should've been fa--"

"The next word out of your mouth had better not be 'faster'," she cuts him off.

"I should've been," he insists. "I should've done something."

"Oh, shut up," Kate says.

Tommy's brows knit in. "What?"

"I'm the one lying in a hospital bed," she replies. "So, you're not the one we're gonna be feeling sorry for."

"I don't want you to feel sorry for me," he says.

"No, you just wanna feel sorry for yourself," she retorts. Her face softens then, and her fingers slip from his wrist to interlace with his own. "Tommy, I'm a big girl. I knew what I was getting myself into with this whole superhero thing."

Tommy looks down at their hands. "I know that. But fuck, Kate, you could've died and there wasn't a goddamn thing I could do about it. I was useless and I hate feeling useless but I couldn't do anything and I just kept thinking 'What if she dies? What if she dies and I never get to tell her that--'"

He cuts himself off, realizing what it is he was about to say.

"Tell me what?" Kate asks. Her eyes are the clearest they've been since he walked in the room and he realizes that she probably already knows.

Time to stop wasting time.

"Tell you that I think I love you," he says.

Kate doesn't even try to look surprised. "You think?"

"Really?" Tommy rolls his eyes. "You're choosing now to bust my balls?"

She smiles. "No time like the present, right?"

Tommy nods. "Yeah."

There's a knock at the door then and the nurse sticks her head in. "Your five minutes ended three minutes ago."

"Right," Tommy says, standing up. He turns back to Kate and leans down to place a kiss on her forehead. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll come back tomorrow."

"Okay," she replies and as he reaches the door calls out, "Tommy."

He turns back. "Yeah?"

"I think I love you, too," she tells him.

He smiles. "Oh _now_ you tell me."

She smiles back. "No time like the present."


End file.
